


Don't know how to dance alone

by curl



Category: The Next Step
Genre: Comfort, Daniel & Emily, Fluff, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Takes place during season 7, West & Emily, West & James & Eldon, background james/riley and eldon/thalia, but no descriptions or explicit mentions thereof, clude if you squint, i headcanon West as pan but it's not discussed in this fic, mentions of past West/Emily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27662041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curl/pseuds/curl
Summary: West and Daniel get hired as choreographers at The Next Step again to help B-troupe win Nationals and they fall in love with each other :)
Relationships: Daniel/West North
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	1. Dancing is what to do

**Author's Note:**

> i started writing this before season 7 was fully out and i didn't know how Dancemania worked back then, so it's structured differently here to fit the story.

West was walking through the familiar hallway towards studio A. Emily had asked him to come back to The Next Step as choreographer once again to help out with Nationals.  
She had not only asked him, though. Naturally, Daniel was also going to be there. She did always love Daniel's style.  
West could not wait to start working with the new dancers. When Emily told him that it was actually B-troupe that was going to Nationals, he was surprised, but if Emily thought they were capable of competing in Nationals then they must be good.  
He was also excited to work with Daniel again. The two of them had made quite a good team in the past, but after Michelle and Emily were fired, the person who replaced them as studio head did not want his and Daniel's help, and he hadn't seen Daniel since.

West entered studio A and Daniel was already there, stretching and looking serious as ever. When he noticed West, however, his face brightened up.  
Daniel got up from the floor. “Hey.”  
“Hi.” West responded and pulled him into a quick hug. “So good to see you.”  
“Good to see you, too,” Daniel replied with a light smile. “It's good to be back.”  
“With both of us here we got Nationals in the bag,” West said, and Daniel's smile wavered.  
“If nothing goes wrong for once,” he responded.  
West gave him a teasing smirk. “Ever the optimist.” He knew Daniel had a point. Historically, The Next Step never really had the best of luck. But he also knew that Daniel had a tendency to stress too much and he didn't want him to scare off the dancers with his attitude. “Come on, let's lighten you up before B-troupe gets here,” he said and walked backwards toward the middle of the studio with his arms spread out.  
“I'm perfectly light,” Daniel replied matter-of-factly.  
“You'll be lighter if you dance with me right now.” West started at his fingertips and let a wave pass through his body all the way to the other hand. “I know you want to.” That was a bluff, but the trick was to say it with enough confidence. He did mentally prepare himself, though, in case Daniel needed more convincing, but was pleasantly surprised when that wasn't the case.  
Daniel rolled his eyes but cracked a smile and followed West onto the dancefloor.

It didn't take long for them to find moves that worked with each other, even though they were so different. When West did his pops and locks and his flips and Daniel did his turns and his jumps it was as though no time had passed.  
When Daniel got onto the floor and threw his legs out in a windmill, West took it as a challenge to fire back with a ballet move. He drew his eyebrows together with pretend-seriousness and performed a pas de chat. It surprised him when Daniel actually laughed. He had anticipated a smile at most.  
West knew goofing around while dancing with Daniel was a little risky, so he was all the more glad that it had gone well.  
They continued dancing, performing segments of choreography from dances they used to do together, and sometimes just showing each other moves and tricks. After all, both of them had learned and grown a lot since their time on A-troupe together.  
Everytime their eyes met, Daniel had a smile on his face, and West couldn't remember if he had ever seen Daniel have so much fun while dancing.  
There had been no need to admit it to Emily when she hired West, but he had kind of gotten into a rut when it came to dancing. He had pretty much reached Mount Everest, so he thought, being champion of the world. But duetting wasn't really something he had done much or even thought about, so dancing with Daniel was refreshing. 

When they finished, there was applause and cheers coming from the sidelines. Only then West noticed that the B-troupers had come into the studio.  
“Just a small taste of what's to come,” West said as he did a cocky strut towards them to gloss over the fact that they had startled him a little with their presence.  
They introduced themselves to the dancers and instructed them to get warmed up while they discussed how to approach the first rehearsal.  
West had an unusual suggestion and was glad when Daniel agreed to it. Dancing probably did lighten him up after all.

“Alright, guys, listen up.” Daniel clapped his hands together to get the dancers' attention. “I'm sure you're all aware that Nationals require the dancers to be well-rounded, so for starters we're going to do something a little bit different. Those of you who are more comfortable with hip-hop, please come to me.”  
“And those of you who are more comfortable with ballet, to me,” West continued.  
The dancers split up into two groups around them.  
“I'm going to put together a ballet routine for you,” Daniel said to his group and then faced the others, “and West will do hip-hop with you guys.”  
West nodded. “Alright, let's do some hip-hop!” he said, excited to start. “Even though I could probably do both.” It was meant half as a joke, half to show off.  
“Oh, really?” Daniel said, raising his eyebrows.  
West waved his hand, trying not to make a big deal about it. “Yeah, you know, I think I could throw together a little ballet routine.” Ever since he had practiced for that audition with Chloe, he had become a lot better at ballet.  
Daniel took a step towards him, head held high with a challenging smirk on his face. “How about we make this a little more interesting then?”  
West mirrored him, stepping closer as well. “What did you have in mind?”  
With a nod towards West's dancers, he said, “I'll choreograph the hip-hop routine and you do the ballet routine.”  
They were standing close now, neither of them breaking eye-contact.  
West couldn't hold back a genuine smile as he was excited to see how this was going to turn out. “Challenge accepted.” He definitely remembered Daniel being way more uptight, but he welcomed the change and intended to fully lean into it.  
“I'm taking studio 1,” Daniel said and started backing away. To the dancers standing around West he said, “Follow me.”  
West was still looking at him, performing another pas de chat to give him a taste of what was to come.  
Daniel tried to look unimpressed, but the corners of his mouth betrayed him before he turned around and left the studio with his group.  
“That, my friends, was a jump of the cat.” West told the remaining dancers. “I did my french homework. We got this.”

After a while of working on their respective dances, Daniel and West met up at The Next Steep for a break.  
They were sitting at a table with their drinks in an awkward silence.  
Finally, Daniel asked, “So, how's your dance going?”  
“Pretty good, pretty good,” West replied.  
Daniel nodded. “Mine too.”  
They fell silent again, and West soon couldn't stand the uncomfortable tension anymore.  
“Well, my dancers are great... my choreo.. not so much,” he admitted.  
Daniel's shoulders dropped slightly with relief and he looked down at his drink. “Same.”  
West pressed his lips together. “I might have overestimated myself a liiittle bit.”

They ended up switching back and West went to studio 1 to salvage Daniel's hip-hop routine. It was better than he had expected, but it was very safe.  
After a while of workshopping it, he was pretty pleased with the choreography, and the dancers were keeping up quite well.  
All except one, that is. With every move he added, she struggled more and more.  
West snapped his fingers and pointed her out. “You, what's your name again?”  
She stiffened up. “Jude.”  
“Okay, Jude,” he said, trying to speak softly because she already seemed on edge, “Do you need help?”  
She shook her head. “No, no, i'm fine,” she assured him. “Hip-hop is just not my strong suit.”  
That made sense to West. However, hip-hop wasn't the strong suit of the other dancers in this group either and they kept up fine.  
Judging by the looks on their faces there was something else going on.  
“Keep practicing, guys, and Jude,” he motioned for her to come over to him, “can I talk to you for a second?”  
Jude lowered her gaze as she walked over to him, clearly not happy to be singled out.  
In a low voice, West asked, “Is there anything I should know?”  
Jude hesitated. “Well, it's not just hip-hop... I have a hard time learning choreo in general. I have dyslexia.” West nodded, but before he could respond, she spoke on. “But I have it under control! I get in extra practice whenever I can and Cleo's been helping me a lot and I promise it won't be a problem-”  
“Okay, okay,” West interrupted her, trying to keep her from spiralling. “It's okay. This is just something we need to know so we can work through it.”  
Jude nodded, but still seemed unsure. “I just... I didn't want to tell you because I really want to be on this team.”  
“I'm sure you're here for a good reason. Do you think we'd kick you out for something like this?” West asked.  
Jude shrugged with uncertainty all over her face. “..Earlier.. Daniel said that dancers who compete at Nationals should have no problem picking up choreo.”  
“Aah, I understand,” West replied, giving her a light smile. He suspected that Jude made Daniel sound nicer than he had actually been. “Don't worry about him, okay? I'll talk to him.”  
That seemed to finally make Jude relax a bit. “Thanks,” she said quietly.  
He ended up including quite a lot of freestyle into the dance, and he showed Jude a couple of moves she could do in case she forgot the steps. The purpose of the exercise wasn't to learn choreography anyway.

When the time came to show off the dances, Daniel's came first.  
As they watched, West shot a glance at Daniel and noticed him nodding along with the counts of the choreography. He couldn't help but shake his head at him lightly, albeit with a smile.  
Daniel didn't seem quite as serious when they watched the hip-hop routine, and even smiled when the dancers collectively performed a pas de chat. West just had to include that and he was glad it paid off. He wasn't too sure how Daniel felt about all the freestyle, though.

“Good job, everyone,” West said when they were finished. “I think we've learned a lot about each individual dancer and it's gonna help us come up with winning routines.” He gave Jude an encouraging nod and earned a small smile from her in return.  
The dancers cleared out and Daniel was about to follow them, but West stopped him. “Daniel, can you hang back for a minute?”  
“Sure, what's up?” Daniel responded and took a few steps back towards him.  
“I want to talk to you about Jude.”  
Daniel nodded. “Oh. Yeah. She's gonna need a lot of work.” He drew his eyebrows together slightly with discontent. “Did you put all that freestyle in because of her?”  
“Yep.” West simply replied.  
“You shouldn't have done that. You can't coddle her like that. She needs to be able to learn choreo.”  
“Today wasn't about choreo,” West replied, speaking calmly and trying to keep the conversation civil. The last thing he wanted was to argue with Daniel when the day had gone so well so far.  
Daniel crossed his arms. “What about Nationals? The choreo needs to be on point.”  
“She assured me that she'll learn it. She's just not as fast.”  
“Slow is not an option.” Daniel retorted. “What if there are last minute changes?”  
West took a deep breath. “Look, Emily wouldn't have approved of this if she didn't think the team was good enough.” He was pretty sure the Emily card would appease Daniel. The two of them usually had similar views.  
There was a pause in which Daniel considered his words.  
“Just trust me.” West added. “We're gonna make this work.”  
Daniel hesitated. “Fine,” he finally said, but he rolled his eyes to let West know he wasn't entirely happy about it.  
It was good enough for West, though, at least for the moment.  
“They _are_ better than I expected.” Daniel said. “It's way different than back when we were on B-troupe.”  
“Totally.” West agreed. He looked around the studio and in a way he found comfort in the fact that the creepy chickens were still on the wall. “That seems so long ago now.”  
“So much has happened,” Daniel replied, a slight somberness to his tone as his eyes wandered to the side.  
“Somehow we always end up back here, though.” West said with a soft smile on his face. He was glad that all the drama was behind them now. “Seems like fate keeps bringing us together."  
Daniel scrunched up his face a bit. “I don't believe in fate.”  
West shrugged. “Then maybe we're just lucky.”  
When that got a smile out of Daniel, it gave West butterflies.  
Preparing B-troupe for Nationals together was going to be great.

\---

“Our male soloist is..” West paused for dramatic effect, “Ethan! Congratulations!”  
Ethan received applause as well as a few fist bumps and pats on the shoulder, before everyone dispersed as it was the end of rehearsal.  
West, Daniel and Emily were still chatting about their decision and the upcoming auditions for the other nationals dances.  
Ethan was the only dancer who didn't leave the studio with the rest. Instead, he walked up to them. “Daniel, do you have a minute?”  
“Yeah, sure,” Daniel responded and the two of them stepped a few feet away from West and Emily.  
West looked after him before turning his attention back to Emily.  
Since they started coaching this B-troupe together, Daniel seemed relatively relaxed by his standards and West liked to think that his positive energy was rubbing off on him.  
On this particular day, however, Daniel was more reserved than usual. Even when the three of them deliberated about who should be the male soloist, Daniel seemed hesitant to make any definitive statements, which was very unlike him.

“I don't wanna jinx it, but I'm so glad everything's going smoothly.” Emily said. “Who would've thought I'd be putting all my stock into B-troupe one day?”  
“You still have A-troupe too.” West reminded her with a teasing smile. He knew she was fired up to finally go to Nationals again. The Next Step had hit a lot of bumps in the road before they got to this point.  
“Yeah, I know, but, you know,” Emily said, “Dancemania is more Nick's thing and Nationals is more my thing... Besides, after Dancemania that's it for A-troupe. B-troupe could go to Internationals. I mean, look at them!” She gestured at nothing in particular since most people had already left the studio.  
West smiled at her excitement. “No pressure,” he remarked with a sarcastic undertone.  
Emily tilted her head. “Yes pressure.” she replied in a joking manner, but the hint of earnestness did not escape West. In a softer tone she spoke on, “I know I can rely on you guys.”  
West glanced over at Daniel, although he could only see the back of his head while he was talking to Ethan. “A hundred percent,” he said, looking back at Emily again. “But try not to get fired this time, okay? I'd like to stay a little bit longer.”  
Emily gave him a sarcastic laugh in return. “Speaking of work, I still have things to do, so, see you later,” she said and started walking towards her office. Before she walked through the door, though, she turned around and gave West a light smile.

When Daniel was finished talking to Ethan, he looked even bluer than before.  
“Everything okay?” West asked.  
Daniel must have been lost in thought, as the question seemed to surprise him. “What? Yeah, of course.”  
West wasn't convinced but understood that Daniel didn't want to tell him what was bothering him. At the very least, though, he wanted to help Daniel take his mind off of things. “Wanna hang out at The Next Steep? Emily told me they have the best scones.”  
Daniel didn't seem enthusiastic as he pondered the offer for a moment, but ultimately agreed. “Okay.”  
“Cool,” West replied. “Oh, and she also told me not to tell anyone that she said that, so..” he said and made a zipper motion over his mouth.  
That was the first time West saw Daniel smile all day.

They were sitting in The Next Steep with drinks and snacks, and West was telling the story about how James, Eldon and him got stuck in the Everglades.  
From the looks of it, West was succeeding in brightening Daniel's mood.  
They wound up talking about all kinds of things, and West tried to make Daniel smile and laugh as much as possible. Not that it took him any effort to be hilarious and entertaining.  
He liked dancing and working with Daniel, but it was nice to spend time with him outside of that for a change.

Daniel glanced down at his drink. “Thanks for cheering me up,” he said in a low voice, not pretending anymore that everything had been okay all along.  
“Of course,” West replied. “And, you know, you don't have to tell me anything, but if you ever want to you can.”  
“Thanks,” Daniel replied. He gave a dismissive wave with his hand and added, “But it's fine. It's stupid anyway.”  
“I'm sure it's worth talking about.” West didn't want to push it, but he also wanted Daniel to know that he wouldn't judge him.  
Daniel hesitated. “It's just.. the solo auditions today brought back some bad memories.”  
“I didn't realize you still think about that,” West admitted. To him, all this drama was in the past. But then again, he had never really been directly involved.  
“I try not to,” Daniel said. “I mean, there's nothing I can do about it now. Sometimes I just wonder how things could've turned out if I had stayed.”  
For a moment, West tried to imagine what it would have been like if Daniel had gone to Nationals and Internationals with them, but quickly decided that it was pointless to get hung up on hypotheticals.  
“Well, what matters is that you're here now,” he said, smiling lightly. “It was nice hanging out. We've known each other for so long but we've never really done this before.”  
Daniel returned his smile. “It's still a while until Nationals. I'm sure we'll get more chances.”

West noticed he was staring and thought he should look away so as not to make it awkward, but Daniel wasn't looking away either.  
It was only a moment, and Daniel was the first to lower his gaze, but it made West decide that he was going to take those chances.  
Whatever choices Daniel made in the past, they both ended up in the same spot, and West wanted to know where they could go from here.

\---

West had been there for all the highs and lows in James' and Eldon's relationships, so naturally, he wanted to keep his best friends in the loop.  
The three of them were sitting on couches in a café and Eldon was telling a story, but West wasn't really paying attention. He was trying to figure out the right way to tell them that he had kind of developed a crush on Daniel.  
Normally, he wouldn't be nervous about something like this. James and Eldon were his bros and he trusted them, but they would probably need a moment or two to wrap their heads around the fact that he was not only interested in a man, but that it was Daniel of all people.

“..So, she's standing there with the turkey baster in her hand and she's all like, 'Don't test me, you know I'll do it' and-” Eldon paused and looked at West. “Are you even listening?”  
“Yeah, man, you're acting kinda weird today,” James said. “Not your usual kind of weird.”  
As they were both looking at West, he knew this was the moment. He just hoped Eldon wouldn't be too upset that this was going to completely outshine whatever the punchline of his story was going to be.  
“Well, yes, I've been a little distracted lately,” West said, trying to find the right words.  
“Why, are things not going well at TNS?” James asked.  
“No, no, everything's great. That's not it,” West said, waving his hand dismissively. “The reason is.. there is someone.”  
Eldon raised his eyebrows with a slight smirk and exchanged a quick glance with James. “Oh, someone?”  
“Wait, is it Emily?” James guessed. “I know you guys had a little thing going on.”  
“It's not Emily.” West cracked a smile. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces. “It's.. Daniel.”  
At first, James and Eldon were stunned and neither of them seemed to know how to react.  
James let out a laugh, thinking that West was joking. West, however, did not show any signs thereof and James blinked at him.  
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.” he said, and West could practically see the gears turn in his head. “Are you like, actually for real right now?”  
“Yep.” West replied.  
“Daniel.”  
“Yep.”  
“The Daniel who went up against The Next Step several times?”  
“He also helped us win Internationals.” West reminded him.  
He glanced at Eldon, who hadn't said anything yet.  
Eldon looked a little lost, as he often did, and West wasn't sure if he had even understood the situation.  
“What do you think, Eldon?” West asked.  
“Yo, he's mad that you're crushing on his rival, dude.” James said, not even trying to hide how funny this was to him.  
Eldon shook his head. “It's not that.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I just... feel a little left out now that I'm the only straight guy in our group.”  
West exchanged confused looks with James.  
With the back of his hand, James swatted Eldon's shoulder and then gestured to himself.  
“Do you know something I don't?” James asked.  
Eldon raised an eyebrow, as though James was the clueless one in this situation. “..Bobby G.?”  
James folded his hands and brought them to his mouth as he closed his eyes.

West watched his friends argue over this misunderstanding with a smile.  
They went back and forth a few times until James managed to convince Eldon that he did not read out of his own diary on stage.  
“I just want to clarify that I support both of you on your journeys.” Eldon said.  
“I don't _have_ a journey.” James replied, reaching the limit of how much more of this conversation he could take.  
Eldon looked at him insistently. “But if you _did_ , I'd support you not matter what because you're my bro and I love you.”  
James sighed. “Okay. Whatever. Love you too.” He turned to West. “So. Eldon is straight, and we've now established that I'm straight,” he shot a glance at Eldon, “soo.. what are you now? Like, are you bi or what?”  
West shrugged. “I dunno. Haven't really thought about it. I guess I just like who I like.”  
“But Daniel, though?” James asked, tilting his head.  
“He's totally past all the drama. We've been spending a lot of time together lately and it's great.” West couldn't hold back a smile at the thought of him. “And he's pretty cute.”  
James and Eldon smirked at each other and West didn't mind all the teasing that followed. He knew they were happy for him.

\---

West entered studio A and almost bumped into Emily, who was stomping out of her office.  
“Woah, what's gotten you so worked up?” he asked.  
Emily huffed. “I just got off the phone with a potential sponsor for Nationals and they said they don't want to partner with us because they don't know enough about our dancers.”  
“Let's just wait for Dancemania. That's gonna convince them for sure.” West suggested.  
Emily shook her head. “No, they don't care about Dancemania because it's a different troupe.”  
“What are we supposed to do, then?”  
“I don't know.” Emily let out a heavy sigh. “I knew I was shooting too high with that company. I shouldn't have turned down that sports drink that makes children hear colors.”  
“Don't worry.” West said. “I know you got this.”  
“I'm not so sure.”  
“Hey, you got the studio this far. You'll figure something out.”  
Emily smiled lightly at him. “I know I've done something right. Offering you this position.”  
West gave her a quick hug and when they separated, she seemed a lot calmer.  
“Thanks.” she said. “I'm gonna go find Nick.”  
As she left, she walked past Daniel and West wasn't sure how long he'd been there.

“Is she okay?” Daniel asked when Emily was out of earshot.  
“Oh, yeah, there's just an issue with the sponsor,” West replied as casually as he could.  
Daniel, however, immediately took it very seriously. “What issue? We're getting a sponsor, though, right?”  
“It's Emily's job to stress about this,” West said. “And you know she's gonna get it done.”  
Daniel nodded slowly. “Okay, you're right.”  
West gave him a pat on the shoulder and they went to get warmed up for rehearsal. 

“What did you think of the episode last night?” West asked as he started stretching his arms.  
Dancemania always put together a few episodes where they introduced all the teams and dancers in the weeks leading up to the live shows.  
West was under the assumption that every dancer under the sun watched this show, but he began to question that when Daniel gave him a quizzical look.  
“Dancemania.” West said to jog Daniel's memory. “You think A-troupe's gonna win this?”  
“Oh, I didn't watch it.” Daniel said with a dismissive shake of his head.  
West squinted his eyes slightly. “That's weird. That just sounded like you said you didn't watch it.”  
Visibly unimpressed with West's joke, Daniel tilted his head at him.  
“Why not?” West asked.  
Daniel just shrugged. “I'm not into the whole reality TV stuff. It's supposed to be about professional dancing.”  
“Have you ever even seen an episode?”  
“Nope.”  
“Okay, we're watching last night's episode after rehearsal.” West decided.  
Daniel scrunched up his face with annoyance. “I really don't-”  
“Pleeease.” West begged. “You'll love it.”  
“I doubt it.”  
“At least do it for A-troupe. It's not everyday that dancers from your studio are on Dancemania.” When Daniel finally started to consider it, West added, “I'll buy you a drink.”  
Daniel sighed, admitting defeat. “Fine.”  
West did think that Daniel should give the show a chance, but really he was just looking for any excuse to spend time with him.

As a part of his warm-up, Daniel got into a split position and stayed like that for a while. West was impressed by how little effort this took him, and Daniel didn't seem to even think about it. In fact, he appeared to be preoccupied with something else. And West had a feeling it wasn't Dancemania.  
Daniel was hestitant to speak and shot a glance over his shoulder at the still empty office. “..You and Emily are close, huh?”  
“Oh, yeah, she's great,” West replied.  
Daniel barely looked up at him. “Is there something going on between you two?”  
“What? No,” West said and smiled at Daniel's attempt to be nonchalant about it. And he took Daniel's interest in his relationship status as a good sign. “We almost had a thing once, though.” Even though it never went anywhere, West looked back at it fondly. It gave him and Emily a special connection.  
“Almost?”  
West shrugged. “There was too much going on at the time so we just stayed friends. Wouldn't have it any other way, though.” He paused, smiling softly. Maybe it wasn't the best move to talk about past crushes with his current crush, but West wanted to be honest and open about these things. “I think... maybe in another life, you know.”  
Their eyes met.  
Daniel opened his mouth, wanting to say something but unsure if he should. “..And in this one?” he asked.  
Before West could even begin to conceive of a response, they were interrupted by the growing sound of chatter coming from the door as several B-troupers walked into the studio.  
Daniel turned his head towards them and got up from the floor, all but fleeing this moment.  
Smiling to himself, West kept his gaze on Daniel, who now had his back to him.  
There was something between them. He was sure of it now.

The B-troupers were talking over each other, causing quite a commotion, and West's expression turned more serious as soon as he realized that there was something amiss.  
“What's going on?” Daniel asked.  
“It's an emergency!” Winnie said, visibly distressed.  
“Summer is going to Dancemania with A-troupe,” Izzy elaborated in an exasperated tone.  
“What?” Daniel asked. “But she can't compete in Dancemania _and_ Nationals.”  
“Exactly!” Ethan said.  
West thought for a moment. “That really is a dance-mergency right there.”  
Daniel turned to him with a deadpan expression. “What.”  
“A dance emergency. A dance-mergency,” West explained.  
Shaking his head slightly, Daniel responded, “No.”  
“This is serious!” Winnie said. “We're short one dancer now!”  
“Okay, guys,” West said in an attempt to calm them down, “Summer is a fantastic dancer and she would've brought a lot to the team, no doubt, but there are a lot of amazing dancers out there. This isn't the first time The Next Step didn't have enough dancers. We're gonna find someone.”  
In that moment, Jude had an epiphany. “Oh, I think I know someone!”  
West smiled smugly. “See?”

West and Daniel let them handle the situation from there. If it was someone they knew, then they would know best if they could work with them in a team. And if Emily aproved of them as well, West and Daniel surely would have no issues with them.

\---

That afternoon, West and Daniel got comfortable at The Next Steep, with a tablet propped up on the table and drinks that West had paid for.  
West's attention was less on the show, which he had already seen the night before anyway, and more on Daniel and his reactions. Plus, he was quietly enjoying how close they were sitting, even with the armrests separating them.  
Daniel had his arms crossed, watching critically. However, he quickly became invested and started making comments throughout.

When the episode was over, West looked at him, awaiting his final judgement with a light smirk.  
“Okay, I didn't hate it.” Daniel admitted. “The dancers are really good. Most of them. But all the stuff around it is way too much.” He wrinkled his forehead in annoyance. “Like, it was sad that that one girl's dog died but what does it have to do with dance?”  
West chuckled. “It's just to make the audience feel connected to the characters. Make them relatable.”  
Daniel only rolled his eyes in response.  
“But you'll keep watching, right?” West asked.  
“Only because A-troupe's in it.” Daniel replied.  
West smiled. “Good enough for me.” He glanced at the screen and back at Daniel. “We could do this again next week.”  
Daniel's face softened up. “Sure.” After a short pause in which they just looked at each other, he continued his rant. He had a lot of opinions despite claiming not to care.


	2. Dancing when I think of you

A few days later Emily asked them into her office. Nick was already there, all but giddy with excitement.  
The total opposite of that was Daniel, who looked like he could use a second cup of coffee on top of the one he was already drinking.  
The two of them took a seat across from Emily.  
Sitting at her desk, upright with confidence, Emily said, “So, we've found a way to get the sponsor on board.”  
“Told you,” West replied, earning a smile from Emily.  
“They're going to send a representative to watch B-troupe dance and see if they'd be a good fit for their company,” Emily continued. “We were thinking of making it a whole event, a soiree type of thing. Something classy, you know, to show them that we can uphold their prestige.”  
“That sounds great,” Daniel said, though he had his eyebrows creased in doubt. “But won't that be expensive?”  
“Which is where my brilliant idea comes in!” Nick announced gleefully. “Dancemania agreed to pay for the event in exchange for footage.” With a sweeping gesture and gazing into the distance he spoke on. “'What is the studio up to back home?' 'Will they be able to win over the sponsor?'” He blinked as he left the realm of his imagination and came back to reality. “It'll make for great TV. People love an underdog story.”  
Emily kept from rolling her eyes at Nick's enthusiasm and focused her attention on West and Daniel. “I'd like you to come up with a couple dances. I was thinking something modern, something fresh, cool...”  
“No problem,” West said. “Modern, Fresh and Cool are my middle names. Well, after East.”  
Daniel mouthed the word “East” at Emily, who shrugged in return.  
“But they also need to be very clean,” Emily added.  
“No problem,” Daniel replied confidently.  
Nick leaned forward a bit to chime in. “And I would love for you two to be there, you know, as choreographers and TNS alumnis, maybe say a few words into the camera. I'm sure they'd like that.”  
“Sounds great.” West responded with a nod.  
“Sure.” Daniel said, but with dwindling confidence.

When they left the office, Daniel took West aside but didn't say anything right away.  
“What's up?” West asked, trying to help him along.  
Under normal circumstances he would have been happy to talk to him, especially alone, but Daniel didn't look like it was going to be a fun conversation.  
Admittedly, West was a little happy nonetheless. He was glad that Daniel wanted to confide in him, whatever it was about.  
Daniel was tapping his fingers on his coffee cup. “I've been binging Dancemania.”  
West's face lit up. “I told you it's great!”  
“Not the word I would use.” Daniel replied, scrunching up his face slightly. “Anyway, there's so much drama.”  
“I know!” West said, still happy about the fact that Daniel was watching the show.  
Daniel looked at him firmly. “They're ruthless.”  
West's expression became more and more confused as he was trying to figure out what Daniel was trying to say. “Yeah, I guess?”  
Daniel hesitated again. “..They're looking for drama everywhere and I have so much of it. What if they ask questions?”  
West nodded and thought about Daniel's words. “No offense, but you might be overestimating how relevant you are.”  
Daniel tilted his head, taking some offense.  
In a softer tone, West added, “I doubt they'll ask questions about your past.”  
“But what if they do?” Daniel asked, still visibly anxious. “I don't want that on TV.”  
“Don't worry, I'll be there all night to keep you out of trouble.” West said with a wave of his hand. “I can talk my way out of anything.”  
Truthfully, in the past he had only been semi-successful at talking his way out of sticky situations, but he didn't think he would need to anyway. What mattered was that Daniel's mind was put at ease.  
Daniel nodded. “Okay.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Yeah.” Daniel smiled lightly. “Thanks.”  
West's face brightened. It felt good to see Daniel happy.  
Daniel let out a sigh. “Let's start thinking about the dances.”  
“Way ahead of you.” West said. “Can you start the warm-up without me? I'll be right back.” Before Daniel could utter a response, West gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Great, thanks.”  
With that he turned around and hurried out of the studio, trying to dodge the incoming B-troupers.

He returned shortly thereafter, carrying all kinds of sports equipment from balls to bats, nearly dropping all of it multiple times until he reached the dancefloor, where he set all the stuff down rather ungracefully.  
Daniel was already in the middle of doing stretching exercises with B-troupe and watched West trying to keep control of the balls on the floor. “What's happening.” he asked matter-of-factly from his spot on the floor, still holding on to his toes.  
“Do you remember my audition with the basketball?” West asked. He was barely holding back a smirk, because he knew Daniel didn't like that audition solo and he would have to be very persuasive.  
Daniel leaned back and propped himself up with his hands. He saw through West immediately. “Ah. Yes.”  
“Well, since it's a sportswear company I was thinking we could use these as props. You know, to show off the whole... sports aspect.” West looked at the dancers, who were already chatting excitedly among themselves. Hopefully that would help convince Daniel.  
“I know what you're gonna say-” West began, but Daniel interrupted him.  
“Good idea.” Daniel said as he stood up and ran a hand through his hair.  
“I really think-” West blinked at him. “What?”  
Daniel shrugged. “We need to convince the sponsor, right?”  
“Right.” West replied, still recovering from the fact that Daniel had agreed so quickly.  
“Great.” Daniel said with a light smile before addressing the group. “Everyone pick something and we'll brainstorm some moves.”

The B-troupers did as told and spread around the room. Izzy was spinning a basketball on her fingertips and Marcus and Pete were playfighting with hockey sticks, while some of the others looked a little more clueless. They all seemed to be motivated to try, though, and West was pleased.  
He stepped to Daniel's side as they watched the dancers. “I like this fun Daniel.”  
Daniel wasn't always as uptight as people seemed to remember him. At some point after they both joined A-troupe, ambition must have gotten the better of him, West thought. But he was glad that Daniel was willing to try things a little more on the weirder side again.  
Daniel crossed his arms. “I'm fun.”  
“Great to hear that.” A mischievous smirk formed on West's face. “Because I was also thinking we could put them all in roller skates.”  
“I'm not that fun.” Daniel said with a deadpan expression.  
West chuckled and gave Daniel a nudge with his elbow to let him know it was just a joke, before turning his head back to the dancers.  
Daniel tried to stay serious, but cracked a smile and muttered, “That's dangerous!”  
He seemed to have completely forgotten his worries, at least for now.

\---

B-troupe had worked tirelessly on the dances for the sponsor. Surely this would be a great warm-up for Nationals, despite there being no competition. Most of them had never competed anywhere, much less on such a big scale.  
Summer leaving had thrown a wrench into their preparations, but they were ready and determined to prove that they really deserved to go to Nationals.  
West left them to get ready in studio 1 to look for Daniel. He wanted to give the dancers a pep-talk, but of course he couldn't do it alone.  
He probably could, but he didn't want to.

Luckily, Daniel was not hard to find.  
West walked into studio A, where a few decorations had been put up as well as tables on the sides with drinks and snacks, which were going to be manned by J-troupers.  
Nobody was here yet, though, except of course for Daniel, who was standing in front of the big mirrors, tightening his tie and fussing with his hair.  
“You already look great.” West said as he walked up next to him.  
Daniel turned to him with a hint of a smile that immediately disappeared when he got a proper look at West. “You don't.” he said and promptly started fixing West's tie.  
West didn't protest and simply looked up at Daniel with a lopsided smile. He didn't think anything was wrong with his tie, but if it made Daniel feel better to fix it while standing close, he wasn't going to complain.  
However, when Daniel was done with the tie he started straightening the lapels on West's jacket and smoothing the fabric on his shoulders. West had a hunch that it was less about his appearance and more about nerves getting the better of Daniel. Apparently B-troupe weren't the ones in need of a pep-talk.  
He put his hands on Daniel's to stop him. “Relax.”  
Daniel took a deep breath. “What if we overdid it with the props and they hate it? What if Jude forgets the choreo? Or one of the others? It happens! And don't get me wrong, we're lucky to have Presley, but she's got some big shoes to fill.”  
“She can do it. She's really tall.” West replied calmly.  
Daniel paused and blinked at him for a moment and he processed the joke. A laugh or even a smile would have been nice, but at least it had stopped him from spiralling.  
He sighed. “What if they ask questions?”  
West squeezed Daniel's hands lightly. “I got your back, don't worry.”  
Daniel's mouth fell open, but he didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes jumped between different spots on West's face as though they were searching for something, while West was looking back at him with a soft smile. 

The moment was interrupted by someone clearing their throat in a very fake way.  
Startled, Daniel looked past West's head and retracted his hands.  
West turned around to see Emily trying and failing to keep a straight face.  
With raised eyebrows and the hint of a smirk she said, “The Dancemania crew is coming any moment to set up their equipment. Are the dancers ready?”  
“Yes, they're warming up right now.” West responded.  
With Daniel behind him, he exchanged suggestive looks with her. There was no way she hadn't figured out by now that something was going on between them.  
“You look gorgeous, by the way.” West said as they started walking towards the exit.  
Emily shrugged and said, “I know.”

\---

When it was finally time for the performance, all of them, along with the guests, were gathered by the sidelines of studio A and a cameraman was circling the dancers.  
B-troupe was killing it and West was excited about how cool they looked with the props.  
Daniel on the other hand was watching them intently, all but holding his breath when Winnie and Marcus performed a difficult lift, even though they had nailed it countless times during rehearsals.  
West gave him a nudge to try and get him to relax a little. It was out of their hands now, after all. “They're doing great.” he said and a surge of pride welled up in his chest. They were exceeding all of his ecpectations.  
“Yeah.” Daniel replied, although his face remained stoic. “I have a few notes-”  
“Of course you do.”  
“-but I think the sponsor is loving it.”  
West followed Daniel's gaze to the company representative who was standing a bit further away from them. His face was somewhat hard to make out, since the light in the room was directed towards the middle, but he looked well entertained as far as West could tell.

After the dance ended, the audience applauded and West gave the dancers a double thumbs up as they left the dancefloor for a short break before the next dance.  
Out of the corner of his eye he caught the cameraman approaching them, along with a woman who was holding a microphone.  
Daniel must have noticed them as well since he was tugging on his jacket to make sure it sat perfectly.  
The woman was already talking to the camera before she even came to a halt next to them. “..And here we have the heads behind this brilliant choreography, Daniel and West! Both of whom are actually former members of The Next Step themselves.” She turned to them, with a toothy grin that might have been permanent. “Do you mind having a quick chat?”  
West put on the most charismatic smile he could muster while Daniel looked more reserved. That was not unusual for Daniel, but West still wondered how much his nerves were playing into it.  
“Sure.” West said.  
“Fantastic! West, you were actually on the team that won the Absolute Dance Internationals a few years ago.” she began and West confirmed with a quick nod. “What made you decide to leave The Next Step after such an amazing victory?”  
West shot a glance at Daniel when he noticed that the questions might be moving into difficult territory for him. If Daniel was thinking the same, he did not let it show.  
“Well, winning Internationals was a dream of mine, and after I – after _we_ accomplished that I was ready to move on and leave the floor to fresh talent.” West responded.  
“And move on you did!” the Interviewer said, looking briefly into the camera and back at him. “We hear you became world champion a second time! Tell us about that.”  
A smug grin formed on West's face. “After Internationals I was invited to Bangers and Mash-ups, which is the biggest hip-hop competition in the world. I entered with my friends, James and Eldon, who were also on the Internationals team with me, and we won that too.” He pretended to wipe dust off his shoulder.  
“Very impressive.” the interviewer said, and West liked to think that she was being sincere, even though the nature of her job made that hard to believe. She turned to Daniel. “Now, Daniel, you actually left The Next Step early on and even competed against them at one point. What made you decide to take that step?”  
To West's surprise, Daniel seemed completely unfazed. So much so that he even questioned how much Daniel had actually been dreading questions like this.  
“Well, it's not uncommon for dancers to switch studios.” Daniel replied calmly. “A lot of the time it's about taking opportunities as they arise, and I had such an opportunity at the time.”  
West was impressed with that answer, but of course it was too vague for an interviewer to be satisfied.  
Her grin was still in place, but a crease appeared between her eyebrows as she proceeded to pry. “That makes sense. So, would you say you are committed to The Next Step this time around or are you always on the lookout for these 'opportunities'?”  
Daniel was still smiling politely, but he didn't answer immediately and West could tell that his facade was beginning to crack.  
He wanted to jump in, scrambling to think of something to say, when next to Daniel Emily pushed herself into frame with a big smile.  
“Actually, I hired them both specifically because I trust that they are committed to the studio.” She tilted her head slightly and blinked into the camera. “Second only to their expertise, of course.”  
The interviewer's experience was apparent when she adapted to the situation seamlessly. “And here we have the studio head, Emily!”  
The interviewer didn't let it show, but she must have gotten the hint, since she moved on from questioning Daniel to talking to Emily.  
West and Daniel stayed for the rest of the conversation, but it was soon time to watch the next dance.

\---

When the evening was over and everyone had left, West, Daniel and Emily stayed behind. They were sitting on the benches in studio A, just chatting and leaving the clean-up for the next day.  
“It was great, you guys.” Emily said with a tired but content smile on her face. “I think the representative loved it.”  
“Yeah, B-troupe did such a good job.” West agreed.  
“Thanks for coming to the rescue earlier.” Daniel said. Even though the situation he had been dreading was over now and nothing bad had happened, he still didn't seem to relax.  
Emily scoffed. “Honestly, that lady was so rude.”  
There was a brief pause and Daniel pursed his lips. “..But she was right. I haven't exactly been.. loyal in the past. I did a lot of things I regret.” He looked down at his hands. “And I missed the opportunity to win Internationals with you guys.”  
“I didn't go to Internationals either.” There was a hint of bitterness in her tone.  
“That's different.” Daniel insisted. “You were injured. I was just selfish.”  
“But you did help us win in the end,” West said. He didn't like seeing Daniel beat himself up over something that had happened a long time ago.  
Hesitant, Daniel asked, “Did you mean what you said earlier?”  
Emily inclined her head, a slight crease forming between her eyebrows.  
“That you trust me.” Daniel tried to look at her directly, but his eyes jumped to the side.  
“Daniel,” Emily began, with a warmth in her voice that didn't come out all too often, “I know what it's like to be a little.. lost. But we both found the right path again.”  
Daniel nodded slowly as he let her words sink in.  
West gave him a gently nudge with his elbow. “You'll always have a place here.”  
For a moment he feared that he might have overdone it by saying that, but then Daniel looked at him and cracked a smile.  
Emily watched them for a moment, her eyes jumping back and forth between them. “Well, it's getting late.” she said in a louder voice and got up from her seat. “Can you guys lock up?”  
“Sure.” West replied and gave her a smile, grateful that she was letting them have a moment to themselves.

When Emily was gone, silence fell over them. It wasn't uncomfortable, at least not for West.  
Daniel exhaled audibly. For a moment, he looked at West, as though he was searching for something in his face, before he let his gaze wander around the studio.  
“I still wish I could've danced with the team,” he said wistfully. “I've never found another studio where I felt at home like I do here.”  
West didn't respond right away, he didn't know how. But when he was struck with an idea, a smirk formed on his face. “We can dance right now.”  
“What?”  
West jumped to his feet and offered Daniel a hand. “May I?”  
There was much less hesitation when Daniel took his hand than West had expected.  
He pulled Daniel up and led him towards the middle of the dancefloor.  
“Aren't you even gonna put on some music?” Daniel asked, still holding his hand as he came to a halt right in front of him.  
West put his other hand on Daniel's side. He didn't have a particular style of dancing in mind when he suggested it, but now that Daniel was so close, a partner dance just felt right.  
“Where's your imagination?” he replied. “I can hear music, listen.” He hummed a few notes, closing his eyes in pretend-concentration that bordered on goofy.  
Daniel chuckled quietly and shook his head as he placed his free hand on West's shoulder. “You know you're really weird, right?”  
West raised his eyebrows. “I prefer 'one of a kind'”

They waltzed around a bit, and West twirled Daniel around slowly. Neither of them were used to standard dances, and they were both exhausted, so most of their dancing was just them trying not to step on each other's toes.  
I wasn't long until the already low energy in their steps had dwindled to them slowly swaying from side to side.  
West was absent-mindedly looking over Daniel's shoulder, revelling in his presence and letting his thoughts be clouded by the faint scent of his cologne.  
When Daniel spoke, his voice was soft and quiet, so as not to disturb the calm too much. “This time I'm gonna see it through all the way to Internationals.”  
In response, West gave an amused hum. “We have to win Nationals first.”  
“We will,” Daniel said with determination. He stopped his slow movements and added quietly, “I don't want it to be over yet.”  
West pulled back just enough to look at Daniel. “Me neither.” He shrugged with one shoulder. “But even if we don't.. we can still hang out.”  
A smile formed on Daniel's face. “Yeah.”  
In that moment there was nothing more that needed to be said, so West just smiled back at him.  
They resumed their swaying motions and West leaned closer again, tightening his grasp on Daniel's hand ever so slightly.

Daniel had made some bad decisions and West knew that.  
No-one was to say how things would've turned out had Daniel never left The Next Step. But if everything that happened had led them to this moment, maybe it was all right.

\---

It was a slow morning. After the stellar job B-troupe had done at the sponsorship event, Emily had granted them to come in a little later than usual so they could get a good rest.  
West was sitting with her in The Next Steep, with James and Riley across from them, enjoying a tasty breakfast. 

“So,” Emily began and set down her cup of coffee, letting her fingers rest on the brim, “did you stay longer after I left?”  
“A little bit,” West replied with a shrug, trying to be nonchalant, but couldn't hold back a smile as he recalled the events of the night before.  
Emily immediately abandoned her initial effort to be casual about this. “And? Did anything happen?” she pressed, gesturing impatiently.  
West leaned back in his seat, now a smug grin on his face. “I don't kiss and tell.” He realized his mistake when his friends stared at him with wide eyes. “No, no, we didn't kiss,” he clarified. “It's just an expression.”  
Riley's shoulders dropped and James just shook his head slightly, albeit with a smirk.  
“Buuut I'm pretty sure he likes me back,” West added. Just the thought of it gave him butterflies.  
James wrinkled his forehead and gave him a quizzical look. “Wait, Daniel's gay?”  
In response, Riley swatted at his arm, but he just laughed.  
Daniel never officially came out as far as any of them knew. At some point it had just become and open secret.  
Riley couldn't be upset long, though, since her curiosity was way stronger. “Well, tell me more, tell me more.” she said, wiggling her shoulders suggestively.  
“There isn't much more to tell,” West replied. “I just feel like... We've always kind of had a connection. It was just never the right time, I guess.”  
“But now it is?” Riley asked, just to be absolutely sure that she could be excited about it.  
West nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”  
Riley leaned back a bit as it all started to sink in. “I'll be honest, I totally did not see that coming.”  
“What can I say?” West responded. “When he smiles it's like... a sunrise,” he said with an accompanying gesture. “Brightens up my whole day.”  
Anyone but West might have felt embarrassed to say such a thing.  
Emily and Riley exchanged sentimental looks, and James' mouth fell open.  
“Duuude,” he said with a smirk, “you got it bad, man.”  
West smiled at his friends. “I haven't felt like this in a long time. Or maybe ever.”  
Emily placed a hand on his shoulder. “I'm so happy for you. And you're welcome.”  
He creased his eyebrows. “For what?”  
“Well, if I hadn't hired you both back..” she let her words trail off.  
“Oh, sure,” West said to humor her. “Thank you.”

Still with a grin, James nodded at something behind West. “Morning, sunshine!” he said.  
“Morning,” replied a slightly confused Daniel, who was approaching their table.  
Emily greeted him with a high pitched “Hiiii!” and Riley almost choked on her coffee.  
“Hi!” she said and cleared her throat. “Nice shirt.”  
James gave her a nudge and whispered, “Be cool.”  
Daniel looked down at his basic red shirt and back up at her, getting more confused by the second. “Thanks?”  
“Hey,” West said calmly. What a turn of events it was that West was the only one among his friends to act normal, but he didn't want Daniel to be scared off.  
Daniel's face softened up a bit. “Are you ready? B-troupe's gonna be here any minute.”  
“Yeah, let's go,” West replied and stood up. “Later, guys.”  
They said their goodbyes and James even gave them a little wave.

As they were walking through the hallways to studio A, West was smiling to himself. Neither of them said a word, but West was fine with the silence.  
Their hands brushed together, and West glanced up at Daniel, who seemed as though he hadn't noticed at all.  
West watched his face for a moment and realized that Daniel was not enjoying the comfortable silence like West did, but rather his mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely.  
“You okay?” West asked.  
At first, Daniel didn't react. The question took a bit longer to reach him.  
“What?” Daniel replied. “Oh, yeah.”  
West creased his eyebrows, but before he could say something else, Daniel changed his mind.  
“Actually..” he began, but hesitated. “Were they acting kinda weird just now?”  
They were absolutely acting weird, because they knew that West had a huge crush on Daniel, but he couldn't respond with that. Or rather, he didn't want to. There was a time and place for confessions, and this wasn't it.  
So, West feigned ignorance. “What do you mean?”  
Instead of elaborating, Daniel asked another question. “Was it because of me?”  
“What? No,” West replied, shaking his head.  
Daniel stopped walking and put a hand on West's arm to hold him back. “West, please be honest. You'd tell me if they still had a problem with me, right? I know Emily doesn't, but what about the others?”  
“They don't, I swear. They were just being goofy,” West said and looked at him intently.  
Daniel was searching for something in West's eyes, doubt written all over his face, and didn't reply.  
West smiled softly and put his hand on top of Daniel's. “If they did, I'd talk them out of it.”  
Finally, Daniel cracked a smile, although he still didn't seem fully convinced. “Okay.”  
“Maybe we can all hang out together sometime.” West suggested, giving Daniel's hand a light squeeze to reassure him.  
Daniel's eyes widened slightly at the idea. “..Sure. Sounds great.”  
There was no doubt in West's mind that his friends were cool with Daniel. If they weren't they would have told him. Plus, it seemed like Daniel was by far the most hung up about the past.

\---

In the end their little interview didn't even make it into the episode. All they showed was a few seconds of whatever inconsequential things Emily said, and the rest of the TNS segment was a montage of the dances with some voiceover.  
“They probably didn't think it was interesting enough,” Daniel had said, annoyed that he had been worried over nothing, but relieved nonetheless.  
West agreed, although he wouldn't have minded if he had been able to brag about his accomplishments on TV.

When Emily left for Dancemania, West and Daniel were left to watch over the studio.  
It was only for a few days anyway, and all they were doing were their regular B-troupe rehearsals and a little viewing party for the finale of Dancemania.  
The two of them had formed a habit of watching the episodes every week after they aired, but they wanted to watch the finale live.  
Daniel still maintained that he didn't like the show much, but West knew he had become really invested, too.  
“It's not a guilty pleasure if you don't feel guilty about it,” West said when they set up the screen in the lounge so they and all of B-troupe could watch together.  
“Yeah, but I do,” Daniel replied.

As Daniel turned on the stream, everyone got comfortable on the couches, some even sat on the floor. West, however, was sitting on a couch alone. No-one dared to sit next to him, or, what was more likely, they left the spot open for Daniel.  
They never said anything, not to each other and especially not to the dancers, but the fact that they liked each other must have been quite obvious to everyone.  
West didn't really feel the need to hide it. He didn't mind when people noticed how much time they were spending together, or when he was staring at Daniel lovingly, or when their hands found each other in passing.

At the very least, Cleo and Jude must've caught on, because when Daniel took a seat next to him, he noticed the two girls stealing glances at them while whispering and giggling to each other.

During the show, everyone was chatting, cheering – mostly for The Next Step, of course-, disagreeing with that one obligatory mean judge, and generally having a good time.  
Daniel had his arms crossed for most of it, occiasionally shifting to fit one foot or the other onto the couch, and he always stayed close to West, even though there was a lot of empty space next to him.  
During an emotional duet, when the chatter had died down a bit, West wanted to test how far he could push it and decided to try the oldest trick in the book.  
He pretended to yawn and stretch, only to put his arm on the backrest behind Daniel, barely even touching his shoulders. At first he thought Daniel might not even notice, because he was watching the screen like a hawk, but then he looked at West.  
“You did _not_ just use that move on me,” he whispered. “Are you serious.”  
West smirked at him, trying to play it cool to gloss over the fact that he was a bit flustered, and started to retract his hand. “Sorry, I'll stop.”  
“No,” Daniel said and rolled his eyes, “it's fine.”  
He turned his head forward again. His arms were still crossed, but he scooted forward in his seat to lean closer to West.  
West did not miss the small smile on Daniel's face as he got comfortable, though, and he adjusted his arm to be on Daniel's shoulders properly.  
From that moment on it was nigh impossible for West to pay attention to the show.  
In hindsight, them ending up here seemed inevitable. When they started working together again, West remembered that there had always been something about Daniel that he felt drawn to.  
It wasn't that he had been missing something all this time they were apart. They were more like magnets. The closer they were, the stronger their attraction became.  
West's wrist was resting loosely on Daniel's shoulder and the cheering of the studio audience was merely distant background noise. When Jude and Cleo glanced at them again, West barely noticed, but he didn't care anyway. He knew they'd be happy for them.  
West was just soaking up the moment with all of his being, all the while trying to wrap his head around the fact that Daniel wanted to be close to him just as much. On one hand it felt completely natural, on the other hand it all felt too good to be true. He had never thought that love should be complicated, but he was still surprised that it was this easy.

When it was time for the audience to vote for their favorite dances, the show went on a short break.  
The B-troupers had become antsy watching all the cool dances on TV and wanting to try them out. They asked for help, and Daniel seemed excited to join them, although their was a reluctance in his face when he smiled softly at West before he stood up.  
West stayed behind, not moving from his seat. He still had one arm on the backrest and used it to prop us his head with his hand as he looked after Daniel.  
He thought everyone had left the room, but a voice behind him startled him.  
“Are you guys official now?”  
He turned around to find Jude and Cleo grinning at him.  
“What do you mean?” He played dumb, but the smile forming on his face told on him.  
Cleo tilted her head. “Haven't you asked him out yet?”  
“Shouldn't you mind your own business?” West replied. His tone was playful and he was still smiling at them.  
The girls exchanged disappointed looks.  
“Well, good luck,” Jude said and gave him a sweet smile as they left the lounge to join the others.

West followed them soon after.  
In studio A, Daniel was dancing with a few of the B-troupers, helping them figure out some of the moves they had seen, and he smiled at West when he entered.  
Of course he had thought about asking Daniel out, but he liked what they had. Surely it would just take its course.  
But as he watched him for a moment, mesmerized by the way he danced, the way he smiled, he realized that he didn't want to wait for something to happen on its own anymore. He wanted Daniel to know, in no uncertain terms, that he wanted to be with him.

A tug on his arm pulled him out of his thoughts and he was dragged onto the dancefloor, made to dance until the break was over any everyone hurried back into the lounge.

A-troupe was standing on the stage as one of two finalist teams as he host dragged out the announcement of the winner.  
As nerve-wrecking as it must've been for them, it kind of made West miss the stage, dancing for other people and sharing his passion with them.  
If he had to choose, though, he would stay with Daniel nonetheless. He already knew what it was like to win competitions, but finding out where he and Daniel could go was something entirely new.

West didn't know when Daniel had grabbed his hand, or if he himself had started it, or if it was both of them, but they were holding on to each other's hands tightly, trying to find an outlet for the suspense on the screen.  
Then, A-troupe were announced as the winners, and the audience errupted in cheers, as did everyone watching at the studio.  
Daniel was grinning, but then he looked down at their intertwined hands as though he had only just noticed and his expression softened.  
It just made West all the more certain. He wasn't going to wait any longer.

The B-troupers watched their fellow dancers celebrate their victory on stage. Some of them even stood up and started dancing with excitement.  
“This is gonna be us at Nationals!” Izzy announced, earning vocal agreement from her team mates.

The evening didn't go on much longer after the rush of the victory had worn off and everyone was getting tired.  
“I guess we should start cleaning up,” Winnie suggested, looking at all the empty bottles, cups and snack bowls.  
“You know what,” West said, “You guys go home. Me and Daniel got this.” He would've made them help in any other situation, but this time he just wanted an excuse to be alone with Daniel.  
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “We do?”  
“Let's go before he changes his mind!” Izzy said and was already out the door. “See you tomorrow!”  
The rest quickly followed after her.

West turned around to find Daniel looking at him expectantly, arms crossed in a challenging manner.  
“You really like cleaning, huh,” Daniel said. The corners of his mouth twisted upward every so slightly and West knew that he saw right through him.  
“I just wanted to be alone with you,” West said with no hesitation as he stepped closer to Daniel.  
There was no reason to play coy anymore. They were drawn to each other and they both knew it.  
Daniel pressed his lips together to keep his smile from growing too big. “You could've let them help first,” Daniel said and didn't back away when West came to a halt only inches from him.  
West looked up at him, studying his face like it was art. “I couldn't wait.”  
He had never kissed a man before. He thought that he would be nervous, at least more nervous than he had been before kissing girls, but he wasn't.  
There was a tingling that started in his belly and spread out all the way into his fingertips, but it wasn't a bad feeling.  
Maybe he had gotten used to it, he thought, to the fact that Daniel was occupying a special place in his heart. Their connection felt so natural, so simple, and their first kiss had only been a matter of time, so much so that it might as well have already happened.  
West tilted his chin upwards and his smile grew a bit wider when Daniel showed no sign of hesitation.  
He closed his eyes and gently placed his lips on Daniel's.  
Daniel leaned into the kiss immediately, as though he had only been waiting for the starting signal, and blindly reached for West's hands.  
It was short and sweet, and when they separated they stayed close, with their noses almost brushing together.  
“Feels right,” West mumbled, lazily playing with Daniel's fingers.  
“Yeah,” Daniel replied.  
West pulled back a bit to look at Daniel properly to find him looking back with a soft smile. It briefly knocked the air out of his lungs. He had never seen Daniel like this, so comfortable with opening himself up to another person, and he was ecstatic that he was the one who got to see this side of him.  
And he couldn't help but kiss him again.  
Daniel let him, even parted his lips slightly to deepen the kiss.  
West pulled back and let out a content sigh. His mind was foggy, yet the moment could not have felt more real to him.  
“Actually, let me make sure,” he said jokingly and leaned in to kiss Daniel a third time.  
Daniel chuckled, but was cut off by West pressing his lips against his again.

“We should really get on with cleaning,” West finally said, his gaze wandering to the mess.  
“Who's 'we'?” Daniel replied. “I didn't sign up for this.”  
There was a seriousness in Daniel's tone that made West pause.  
He leaned back slightly and looked at Daniel suspiciously. “You're not really gonna let me do this by myself, are you?”  
Daniel pursed his lips. “I'm tempted.”  
When West tilted his head at him, Daniel gave him a smile and stole another quick kiss.  
“Come on,” Daniel said softly and tugged at West's hand to lead him towards the dirty dishes.


	3. Dancing's what clears my soul

For their first date West suggested they go to a nice restaurant. That might have been a little bit overkill for other people, but West was one to go all out for everything he did.  
He put on his nicest burgundy button up shirt and he even brought a gift. 

They hugged in greeting and West held out his gift to Daniel. A small house plant. “For you.”  
Daniel was smiling slightly, but visibly confused. “..What is this?”  
“I was thinking about getting you flowers, you know, to be all romantic,” West explained, “but they die after a couple days. Always such a bummer.” He lifted the plant a bit higher. “But this little guy lives forever. If you water it at least once a week.” That's what the lady at the store had told him.  
Daniel took it from West and lightly shook his head at it, albeit still smiling. “Thanks. That's really... thoughtful.”

A waiter showed them to their table and handed them menus, and Daniel put the plant between them.   
West tapped his foot rapidly while he looked at the words on the menu, but didn't actually read them.  
“So, full disclosure.” he said and put the menu down. “I've never been on a date with a guy before.”  
A smirk formed on Daniel's face. “Are you nervous?”  
“Psh, no.” West replied. “I mean, yeah, kind of, but it's nervous in a good way, you know? Excited nervous.”  
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Because I'm a guy?”  
Pursing his lips, West thought for a moment. “Mostly because you're you.” he said and revelled in the bashful smile it earned him.  
Daniel looked back down at his menu, though he clearly didn't read anything on it either. “I was starting to think you were never gonna make a move,” he said more quietly.  
“Hey, you could've done it too,” West replied.  
They were interrupted by the waiter, and they both just picked the next best thing.  
When they were alone again, Daniel avoided explaining why he had been waiting for West to take the first step. “How did your friends react when you told them you wanted to go out with me?” he asked instead, based on the assumption that West had told his friends, which was correct, of course.  
“Oh, they were totally cool,” West replied with a wave of his hand. “I never thought they'd have an issue with my sexuality anyway.”  
Daniel didn't seem entirely content with this response. “I mean, when you told them you wanted to date _me_.”  
Now West understood. “Ooh,” he said and nodded slowly. His voice took on a more serious, yet still warm tone. “Daniel. It's been years, everyone's past it. They're happy for us.” When Daniel didn't reply right away he added, “Seems like the only one who hasn't forgiven you is you.”  
Still, Daniel hesitated. “I guess you're right,” he finally said with a sigh.  
“We could go on a group date.” West said more cheerfully. “You, me, James and Riley, and Eldon and Thalia. It'll be great.” He really thought spending time with them would help Daniel move forward. If he could see that they all had, too. Plus, it was the first time that James, Eldon and him were all dating someone at the same time.  
“..Okay.” Daniel said. He sounded all but convinced but West was happy that he was at least willing to give it a try.

After dinner they decided to take a walk, the long way to Daniel's apartment, so they could spend more time together.  
It was a rather warm evening and the sun had almost set, giving the city a cozy golden glow.  
West had a smile on his face and was holding Daniel's hand tightly as they walked along the street, not minding the silence between them after having talked almost non-stop throughout the entire meal.  
“You know, I never went on a date with a guy before,” West began, “but I did kiss one on the cheek once.”  
Daniel quirked an eyebrow at West and he told the story of how he was supposed to trash-talk their opponents at Bangers and Mash-ups.  
“Only you would do that,” Daniel remarked with a light shake of his head when West was finished.  
“What can I say?” West replied. “I love love. And sportsmanship.”  
Daniel let out a chuckle and turned his head forward again.  
There was a lull in the conversation, but West wasn't done. There was a reason West had brought the topic of dating up again.  
“So... What about you?” he asked.  
“What about me?”  
West shrugged. “You've dated before, right?”  
“Are you asking me about my dating history on our first date?” Daniel replied with a smirk.  
“I don't need details!” West said. “I'm just curious about your life. I feel like there's so much I don't know.”   
There must have been a lot of things West had missed. After all, they had spent long periods of time not hearing from each other at all.  
“There were a few here and there. Never anything serious.” Daniel said. “I never stayed anywhere long enough.” He paused. “And, you know, I was always focused on dancing anyway.”  
West nodded. The question of whether Daniel considered this to be something serious was on the tip of his tongue, but he decided to leave it unanswered for a little while longer.

Way too soon they reached the building where Daniel lived.  
At the bottom of the stoop, West was still holding on to Daniel's hand.   
Daniel made no attempt to let go either as they looked at each other while their parting was looming over them.  
The sun was almost completely gone now, and they were standing in the yellow light of a street lamp.  
“I had a great time tonight,” Daniel said softly.  
“Me too,” West replied in the same manner.  
There was no hesitation when both of them leaned in for a gentle kiss. And another one, and another one.  
They stayed close, their foreheads almost touching, and West had his eyes closed, soaking up Daniel's presence to try and take the feeling home with him.  
Daniel gave his hand a light squeeze. “Do you... do you wanna come in?” he asked just above a whisper.  
West cracked a smile and pulled away a bit to look at him. “Yeah.”  
Daniel gently tugged on his hand and led him up the stairs.

-

Sunlight was sneaking through the blinds when West was woken up by stirring next to him. His mind was foggy with sleep, and through half-lidded eyes he watched Daniel's blurry silhouette.  
It came closer and West smiled lazily when he felt soft lips on his cheek.  
His eyes fell shut and the last thing he heard was a door being closed before drifting off to sleep again.

He didn't know how much longer he had slept, it felt both like hours and only minutes, but the next time he opened his eyes he was fully awake right away.  
The bedroom he was in was fairly minimalist, without much color to draw attention, so the little green plant on the white dresser was hard to miss.   
West rolled over one last time, pressing his face into the pillow to inhale Daniel's scent. It filled him with excitement and made it impossible for him to lie still any longer.  
Even before he reached the door he could hear the sounds of dishes rattling and drawers being opened and closed.  
When he entered the kitchen, Daniel didn't notice him. He had his back to him, cracking eggs into a bowl and quietly humming a song they had picked for one of the Nationals routines.  
West didn't make himself known right away. For a moment he watched Daniel, how beautiful he looked even in grey sweatpants and a basic red shirt that was a bit faded.  
“Morning,” West said quietly, trying not to startle him.  
Daniel turned his head around briefly. “Hey. Sorry, did I wake you up?”  
“Nah,” West replied with a light shake of his head.  
He stepped closer to Daniel and wrapped his arms around his torso, resting his chin on his shoulder.   
Daniel stopped what he was doing and put his hands on the counter as he leaned into the embrace. He smelled like body wash.  
“Watcha making?” West mumbled.  
“Pancakes,” Daniel said. “You like blueberries?”  
West hummed in response. He could get used to this.

After West had showered as well, he was wearing one of Daniel's shirts and sat down at the table as Daniel served the pancakes. Their sweet, warm smell had filled the entire kitchen.  
There was not much talking while they ate.   
It was a peaceful quiet, and every so often their eyes met and they smiled softly at each other.

West didn't want to leave, but they both still had a job to do.  
“See you later,” he said when they were standing at the door.  
“Can't wait,” Daniel replied and leaned in for a kiss.  
When their lips met, he lifted one hand to brush his knuckles over West's cheek.  
West placed his hands on Daniel's sides, curling his fingers into the fabric of his shirt.  
He did leave eventually, after a long, deep kiss or two.  
They were going to have a hard time keeping a low profile in front of B-troupe.

\---

West was practically vibrating with excitement while he was waiting at the movies for Daniel to arrive.  
James and Riley, and Eldon and Thalia were already there. Not only was it the first time they would all hang out together with Daniel, it was also the first time with Daniel officially as West's boyfriend.  
They were standing around a table in the waiting area when West spotted Daniel at the entrance.   
West walked a few steps towards him and greeted him with a kiss before leading him back to the others.  
He had asked them to be welcoming to Daniel. Not that they wouldn't be, but he wanted to make absolutely sure Daniel was as comfortable as he could be despite their less than rosy history.

The four of them had watched them, and while Riley and Thalia had pleasant expressions on their faces, Eldon looked a bit more reserved. James on the other hand could barely hold back a teasing grin, if he tried at all.  
“Hey,” Daniel greeted them with a cautious smile.  
As soon as West and Daniel reached them, James rounded the table and pulled Daniel into a somewhat rough hug. “Good to see you, man!” he said, clearly overplaying it.  
He patted Daniel's back enthusiastically while Daniel, slightly startled, kept his hands hovering in the air.  
James let go and was visibly pleased with himself.  
Riley pushed past him. “Sorry about him,” she said with a sideglance at her boyfriend before giving Daniel a hug as well.  
Thalia had a warm smile on her face when it was her turn to hug Daniel. “Nice to see you,” she said softly.  
Daniel was much more relaxed with the girls and hugged them back normally, but when it was Eldon's turn there was an awkward pause.  
The others looked at them in suspense.  
So far, everyone had been trying to act as though there wasn't still something left unsaid, and West thought that Daniel might have preferred that, but apparently he didn't.  
Daniel hesitated. “..Are we cool?” he asked.  
Eldon sighed, letting tension out of his shoulders. “Yeah,” he replied. “Water under the bridge.”  
Daniel nodded.  
“Look, West is my brother,” Eldon continued, “If he's happy then I'm happy.” After a short pause, he said, “Come here.”   
He pulled Daniel into a hug, and Daniel even put his hands on his back, albeit with some reservation still.  
“That was beautiful. I'm gonna cry,” West said and dabbed at his eyes theatrically. He was overacting but there was some truth to it. After all, these people were his family and it was important that Daniel felt included.

Fortunately, the initial awkwardness dissolved quickly and they were endgaged in casual conversation while they waited for the movie to start.  
“So,” Riley began after taking a sip from her drink, “Are you excited about Nationals? Emily says this B-troupe is amazing.”  
“It is,” West replied. “I'm so proud of them. They've exceeded all my expectaions.”  
“And we came up with winning choreographies, so,” Daniel added with a hint of a smirk.  
Smiling, West glanced at Daniel. He knew that Daniel's confidence had taken a huge hit after his losses, so in a way his cockiness was a relief. Daniel wouldn't say such a thing if he didn't think he could back it up.  
James chuckled and grinned at him. “Woah, okay. Can't wait to see them.”

The movie kind of sucked but West didn't care at all. He was overjoyed that he was spending time with his friends and his boyfriend, and everyone was having a great time.  
He was certain that after that night, Daniel would never question their feelings about him again.

\---

Nationals arrived way quicker than West expected. One moment they were in studio A, polishing the dances, the next they were carrying their luggage through the hallways of the hotel they would be staying in during the competition.  
Emily had booked all of the rooms way in advance, so West and Daniel both ended up in single bedrooms.   
However, when they arrived there was no time to think about that anyway, and they were probably going to live.

While Emily and Nick were off to sign them up and make sure that there were no issues with their registration, West and Daniel accompanied the dancers to the stage, where each team got the chance to rehearse before the competition would start.  
As they were walking through the entrance hall, all the memories from when West had been here with his team were flooding back.  
He glanced at Daniel and smiled at the sight of him wearing a TNS jacket just like the rest of them. At last they were on the same team again.  
“Looks good on you, by the way,” he said and tugged lightly at Daniel's sleeve.  
Daniel gave him a small smile in response. “Feels good, too.”

They went onto the stage, passing another group on their way out who looked just as determined as they did.  
The TNS dancers scattered around the stage, oh-ing and ah-ing as they looked out into the empty rows of seats. Most, if not all of them had never danced in front of an audience of this size.  
After a few moments of marvelling and soaking in the atmosphere, they went through all the routines.  
Not even Daniel had any more notes. They were ready.

“I guess it's out of our hands now.” West said as he watched them.  
Daniel didn't respond. He was staring into the empty auditorium, lost in thought.  
West gave him a gentle nudge to bring him back to reality.  
“Hm?” Daniel blinked at him.  
Instead of repeating himself, West asked, “Do you miss it?” His gaze wandered past Daniel to the empty seats as he remembered what it was like to dance here with every last one of them filled.  
Daniel shrugged. “A little.”  
“Me too,” West replied.  
He had already gone as far as this stage would take him, further even, but there was no feeling quite like dancing on it. He wasn't sad that he wasn't the one competing that weekend, but as he stood there he began to worry that there was nowhere for him to go.

That night they had dinner at a local restaurant. The dancers' energy was through the roof and they were unable to contain their excitement. Despite that, or precisely because of that, Emily insisted that they go back to the hotel quite early, so they would all be well rested for the day ahead.  
West went to his room initially, but he didn't even touch his bed before walking out again.  
“Got room for one more?” he asked when Daniel opened the door.  
Daniel smiled and stepped aside to let him in.  
“I think Emily's right, though.” Daniel said in a sarcastic tone. “We should really go to sleep early.” He stepped towards West and placed his hands on his shoulders.  
West had a light smirk on his face as he put his hands on Daniel's back. “We're not the ones competing tomorrow.”  
Daniel chuckled quietly and pulled him closer for a kiss.

\---

West was woken up by Daniel wiggling out from under his arm.  
“West, wake up!” Daniel said and grabbed him by the shoulder to shake him.  
“Wha-” West replied, trying to force his eyes open.  
Daniel sat up, reading something on his phone. “Emily tried to call us a bunch of times.”  
West rolled over to grab his phone from the night stand. He saw the five missed calls and several texts from Emily, and maybe they should have been up already, but they weren't even late yet.  
“We still have, like, 2 hours until the first round.” he said, still not fully awake.  
Daniel put his phone to his ear. He opened his mouth when Emily picked up but didn't get the chance to say anything before she started talking.  
West couldn't understand what Emily was saying, but she was talking fast and loudly.   
“No, no, we're on our way,” Daniel said. He jumped to his feet and motioned for West to get out of bed.  
Trying to be quiet, West started picking up his clothes while listening to the conversation.  
“How bad is it?” Daniel asked with urgency in his voice, followed by a slightly relieved, “Okay.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, we'll be there in ten.” Emily's short reply made him grimace. “In five. Okay, bye.”  
As soon as Daniel hung up West gestured at him to fill him in.  
“It's a.. dance-mergency,” Daniel said and seemed to regret it as soon as the words left his mouth.  
West raised his eyebrows, smug about Daniel's choice of words, but worried at the same time. And he was already dizzy from being woken up so harshly.  
“Marcus twisted his ankle-” Daniel began but was interrupted by West.  
“What?!”  
“Emily said it's not that bad but he can't dance today so we need to change the small group routine.” West tried to digest all this information but Daniel didn't give him the time. “Come on, Emily's already mad that we're not there already!” he urged.

The two of them scrambled to get ready as fast as possible and they definitely didn't make it in five minutes. Fortunately for them, Emily was too stressed to scold them and they got away with a dirty look, for now.  
The small group comprised of Winnie, Grace, Jude, Pete and Marcus. Ideally, Ethan would have filled in for Marcus so that they could keep the routine mostly the same with all the lifts, but Ethan was their male soloist and the male solo round was the first of the competition. Ethan had to put all his focus on winning this round so that The Next Step could even compete in the small group round at all.

Daniel and West took the dancers to a free rehearsal space, where they could make changes to the choreography and bring Presley, their chosen substitue, up to speed.  
Along with the other dancers of the small group, Cleo had also joined them, asserting that as dance captain she should be there.  
While they were all getting warmed up, Daniel took West aside, visibly stressed.  
“This is exactly what I was worried about,” he said in a low voice so the others wouldn't hear him. “We shouldn't have put Jude in the small group.”  
West sighed. “I don't think anyone's more nervous than her right now.” He looked at Daniel intently. “You know she's a good dancer.”  
Daniel looked back at him. He didn't respond right away, but before he had the chance, a voice sounded next to them.   
“Do you have a moment?” Jude asked, nervously curling her hands into fists. When both of them turned their attention to her, she continued. “..Maybe I should be subbed out too. Any of the others will get it faster than me.” Her voice was shaky.  
West opened his mouth to say something but Daniel was faster.  
“Do you really wanna give up your spot?” He looked at her expectantly.  
Jude hesitated. “I.. I just want what's best for the team.”  
“Then prove that you can pull your own weight,” Daniel said.   
His tone was rather harsh, absolutely not the route West would have taken. West wanted to intervene, but Daniel spoke on.  
“Show everyone that you deserve to be here as much as anyone else.” He glanced at West, and back at Jude, who seemed quite shaken by his words. In a slightly softer tone he added, “And we all believe in you.”  
The uncertainty in Jude's face made way for cautious determination and she even cracked a small smile. “Okay.” She shifted her weight from her heels to her toes and back, ready to jump into action. “Thank you.”  
Daniel looked at her for a moment longer, then he shooed her away with his hands. “Alright, go, we've got work to do.”  
Jude turned around and hurried back to the other dancers, where Cleo was waiting for her, and they whispered to each other excitedly.  
Before Daniel could turn his head back to West, West gave him a kiss on the cheek.  
Their eyes met and West looked at Daniel with a smirk.  
Daniel rolled his eyes at him, but was unable to hold back a smile.

After a while of working on the choreography, Cleo got a text.  
“It's from Emily!” she announced and everyone turned to her. “Ethan won!”  
They broke out in cheers. Everyone but Jude.  
She turned to Daniel and West for reassurance.  
“You got this,” West said firmly.  
Jude took a deep breath and nodded.  
“Guys, focus!” Daniel said to rein in their excitement. “Let's run through it a couple more times and then you need to get ready.”  
The dancers immediately got back to their positions.  
West wouldn't want to rain on their parade like that, but Daniel had absolutely no problem with it. Maybe that's why they made such a great team. One of the many reasons, that is.

They arrived at the stage in a hurry, just in time for their turn.  
West, Daniel and Emily watched from the wings along with the rest of B-troupe while Nick was sitting in the audience. He was probably relieved to have Emily deal with the more stressful aspects of this competition.  
“I'm glad you guys made it,” Emily said with an obvious fake smile. “I thought maybe you were still asleep.”  
“We deserved that,” West replied.

As they watched the dance in suspense, Emily and Daniel were clutching West's hands.  
He held his breath when Jude made a mistake and he could feel Daniel's grip tighten.  
A little bit to his surprise, Jude just played it off like nothing happened and kept dancing seamlessly.  
West exhaled with relief. “Nobody noticed.” He glanced at Daniel who had his eyes glued to the stage and only nodded lightly in response.

After the performance there was barely any time to praise them because they had to go back onto the stage immediately for the declaration of the winner.  
There was no doubt in West's mind that TNS had this in the bag.  
And they did.  
They ran off the stage to be met by their team mates.  
Daniel was a bit taken aback when Jude threw her arms around him and said, “Thank you!”  
She moved on to hug West as well, beaming from ear to ear.  
“I'm so proud of you,” West said and hugged her back.

Jude joined the others in a victory huddle, leaving West and Daniel to stand off to the side.  
West put his arm around Daniel's waist. “I'm proud of you too.”  
Daniel gave him a soft smile and placed a kiss on his temple. “Couldn't have done it without you.”


	4. Dancing's what makes me whole

West and Daniel arrived at the studio relatively early. The energy at The Next Step was high after their incredible win at Nationals. Even every J-trouper they came across on their way to studio A was beaming as though they had won the title themselves.  
And of course West and Daniel both couldn't wait to get started on the dances for Internationals. Having choreographed the winning routines for Nationals almost felt as good as dancing on the winning team. Almost.  
But beyond that, they were just happy to be able to continue working together.  
When Emily hired him the second time around, West didn't imagine that it would all turn out this perfect.

Emily entered came into studio A shortly after them, and she, too, had a spring in her step. After all, she was the studio head that brought The Next Step back to the top after quite a rough patch.  
“Hey, guys,” she said in a sing-songy voice as she approached, smiling brightly at both of them before she looked at Daniel. “Have you decided about the audition yet?”  
Daniel's good mood disappeared instantly. He shot a glance at West but averted his eyes quickly again.  
West raised his eyebrows. “What audition?”  
With wide eyes Emily looked back and forth between them as it dawned on her that she had just said something she shouldn't have. “You know what, nevermind,” she said. “I have lots of work to do, so..” She let her words trail off and started backing away before she turned around and rushed into her office.  
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.  
“What audition?” West repeated, starting to get worried. He thought they were at a place where Daniel was open to him.  
Finally, Daniel looked at him. Not directly in the eyes, though. His eyebrows were creased. “..There is this contemporary production of Giselle. They're going on tour right after Internationals.” He lowered his gaze. “Emily brought it up to me. She thought I'd be a perfect fit.”  
“That's great!” West responded, as he thought he should since this was technically good news. Only Daniel's gloomy tone confused him. “Why didn't you tell me? When's the audition?”  
“I didn't tell you because I'm not going,” Daniel replied, shaking his head lightly.  
“Why not?”  
Daniel hesitated. “I don't... Things are going so great between us. I don't wanna be away for months.”  
A soft smile formed on West's face. He reached out to take Daniel's hands. “I'd miss you too. So much.” He gave Daniel's hands a light tug to get him to look at him. In a more cautious tone he spoke on, “Is that the only reason?” Daniel didn't respond right away, so he added, “Because this is an incredible opportunity and it would be a mistake not to take it.”  
He didn't want to be apart from Daniel, but it would be selfish of him to hold him back because of that. West was convinced that Daniel still had so much potential.  
“Easy for you to say,” Daniel said, and West was a bit taken aback by the contempt in his voice.  
“What?”  
Daniel seemed to rein himself in as he spoke on in a calmer, yet still somber tone. “You're world champion. _Twice_. I didn't get anywhere. Not Internationals, not Julliard..” He looked down at their hands. “This audition... it just feels way too familiar.”  
“So.. you're just giving up?”  
Daniel huffed. “You don't get it!”  
West blinked at him. Surely Daniel didn't blame him. But regardless, wasn't every setback just another reason to fight even harder?  
Up until now, they almost hadn't needed words to understand each other. But suddenly, they had fallen out of synch.  
West swallowed dryly. “..I really don't.”  
Daniel retracted his hands. “I just don't wanna do this, okay?”  
West nodded slowly. He wasn't going to push Daniel if that only led to fighting, even though he still thought Daniel was making a mistake. “Okay.”

Soon, the B-troupers arrived. West and Daniel had a bit of trouble getting into the groove of rehearsal at first, but the team was so motivated it was infectuous, so the rehearsal went well nonetheless.  
However, as soon as it was over, the tension between the two of them came right back.  
Normally, West would have immediately tried to resolve it, but Daniel left quite quickly without many words.  
West decided to let him have some space. He did still send Daniel a good night text that night, but it was left unanswered.

\---

The next day, West came into the studio especially early. For one, he didn't know what to do with himself at home anyway, and he wanted studio A to himself for a bit. The situation between him and Daniel made him so uneasy and he needed to move to shake out his feelings.  
So, naturally, he danced.  
He closed his eyes and let his body move whichever way it wanted to, while he tried to forget the fact that he and Daniel had hit their first bump in the road.  
They were going to get through it together, he was certain, but that certainty did little to bring relief in than moment.  
It did not take long for him to get lost in the dancing. So much so that he didn't notice when someone entered the room.  
He turned around, opened his eyes for just a second, and stopped abruptly when he saw Daniel sitting on one of the benches.  
“Sorry,” Daniel said. “I didn't want to disturb you.”  
“It's fine,” West replied, slightly out of breath. He was just glad to see him.  
Daniel looked up at him sheepishly. “..Can we talk?”  
West nodded. “Sure, yeah.” He took a seat next to Daniel. They hadn't resolved it yet, but West was already relieved that Daniel wanted to.  
For a moment, they sat in silence, and West waited patiently for Daniel to be ready to speak.  
“Sorry for how I was acting yesterday,” Daniel began quietly, looking at his hands. “And for not telling you about the audition.”  
“What's really going on?” West asked in a soft voice.  
Daniel was playing with his fingers absent-mindedly, still not looking up when he spoke. “I always tried my hardest.. and I fell short every single time.” He pressed his lips together, as though he didn't want to continue. “What if I'm just not good enough?” His voice almost gave out. “I don't think I can take another loss.”  
West took his time to consider Daniel's words carefully. Of course he thought that Daniel was good enough, but he wasn't so sure he would believe it if he heard it in that moment.  
“You're right,” he finally said. “I don't know what it's like. I guess it's been kind of easy for me.”  
Daniel still held his gaze low and West watched him carfully from the side. There was no sign of his usual confidence.  
West knew that sometimes it was just a farce. He knew Daniel didn't like to show weakness. In a way it was assuring that Daniel could let his walls down around him.  
But he had never seen him look so utterly defeated, with no shred of fight left in him, and it hurt.  
West was desperately searching for the right words to say. He tried to imagine himself in Daniel's shoes, what it would have been like to experience defeat after defeat. What would he have done?  
“Can I ask you something?” he began. Daniel only glanced at him briefly, which he took as a yes. “Do you love dance?”  
Daniel let out incredulous laugh, although it was rather weak. “Yeah, of course.” He shrugged. “More than anything.”  
“Well, dance isn't going anywhere.”  
Finally, Daniel looked at him, if only to show him that he didn't understand.  
“Look,” West continued. “I don't wanna make you do anything you don't want to, but I really think you should give this a shot. Emily wouldn't have recommended it to you if she didn't think you could get it.”  
Daniel averted his eyes with a hint of annoyance.  
To get him to look back at him again, West took his hand. “If it works out, it'll be amazing! And if it doesn't.. dance will still be here, The Next Step will still be here,” he gave Daniel's hand a light squeeze, “and I'll still be here.”  
For a few moments, Daniel just stared at him in silence.  
West started to think he should say more. He thought his little speech was pretty good, but the longer Daniel didn't respond, the more he feared it hadn't been the right thing to say after all.  
Then, Daniel glanced at their hands, and a tiny smile formed on his face, like the sun peeking through the clouds, and West's heart became so much lighter.  
With his thumb he lightly stroked over West's knuckles.  
“..I've never really.. had something, or someone to fall back on. I always felt like I was alone.” When he looked up he was still smiling ever so slightly, but the sadness in his eyes was unmistakable.  
“You're not alone this time,” West said.  
Daniel hesitated, then he sighed. “I'll think about it.”  
West pulled him into a hug, and Daniel buried his face in West's shoulder.

“Don't get me wrong, okay?” Daniel said when he pulled away again. “I think you deserve your titles. I know it wasn't easy and I know you worked hard.”  
West smiled at him. “Thanks.”  
He closed his eyes when Daniel leaned in to give him a kiss.

\---

“What do you think?” West asked.  
It was the end of rehearsal, and B-troupe had just finished dancing through the protoype routine for Internationals.  
A few minutes earlier, both Emily and Nick had come into studio A, but didn't interrupt and instead just watched.  
“I love it!” Nick said, excitable as ever.  
Emily nodded slowly. “It's getting there.”  
West grinned at her. This was probably the best response they could get from her at that point.

“Dancers! We have an exciting announcement!” Nick called and motioned for them to come closer.  
West and Daniel exchanged glances as neither of them knew what this was about.  
“So,” Emily began, “since our former A-troupe graduated, so to speak, we have decided it's high time-”  
“You're A-troupe now!” Nick interrupted her.  
Emily glared briefly at him, but then she spoke on. “We just wanted to make it official. You're the best dancers in the studio, after all.”  
Most of them seemed excited at first, but any enthusiasm they had quickly turned into uncertainty.  
Emily put a hand on her hip, visibly confused. “That's good news. You can start celebrating now.”  
There was a moment of hesitation among the dancers, until Cleo stepped forward.  
“That's really nice of you, but.. I think we'd rather stay B-troupe?” she said and looked around her teammates, who nodded and gave words of agreement.  
Emily blinked at them. “Why.”  
Jude stepped to Cleo's side and shrugged lightly. “It's who we are.”  
“Yeah,” Winnie said, “We worked really hard to prove ourselves. We're proud to be B-troupe.”  
Izzy raised her fist. “B-troupe, best troupe!”  
Now the others cheered and clapped, which was probably what Emily had expected initially.  
“Well, I suppose it's no problem,” Nick said. “It doesn't have any bearing on Internationals, after all.”  
Emily didn't look too happy. “I guess we'll have to come up with another name for the recreational dancers in the studio then,” she said with a sigh.

Daniel and West waited for everyone to leave studio A so they could have the space to themselves.  
When Daniel told him that he wanted to go for the audition, West was over the moon and immediately offered to help him prepare as best as he could, trying not to think too much about what this job would mean for their relationship.  
The help he could provide was not much, since he knew next to nothing about classical ballets, nor was contemporary his strongest style, but Daniel didn't need more than moral support anyway.  
“If you need a practice Giselle..” West suggested and pointed to himself with his thumbs, wiggling his eyebrows.  
With a sarcastic undertone, Daniel replied, “Too bad they're solo auditions.”  
Instead of walking onto the dancefloor to start practicing, Daniel kept standing in front of West and his eyes started to wander.  
West tilted his head. “What are you thinking about?”  
Daniel hesitated. “..I really wanna get Albrecht.”  
“Oh, that's..”  
“The male lead,” Daniel clarified.  
West nodded. “Ah, okay. I'm gonna need you to repeat that with more enthusiasm.”  
“I wanna be the lead,” Daniel said with a huff.  
“Come on, more!”  
Daniel rolled his eyes but cracked a smile. “I wanna be the lead!”  
“That's more like it!”  
West grabbed Daniel's face and gave him a kiss.  
It was such a relief to know that Daniel still dared to shoot high. He really was a fighter at his core.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the studio, dancing together and brainstorming how Daniel would go about the audition.  
West enjoyed every second of it, just him and Daniel doing what they did best. He tried to savor the time they had together as best as he could, because not _if_ , but _when_ Daniel got the job, he would be gone for several months. A thought that West tried to push aside for the sake of being a supportive boyfriend.

\---

They were sitting in a waiting room along with lots of other dancers. Most people were chatting, but the two of them didn't say a word as they waited for Daniel to be called in.  
Daniel was staring straight ahead, completely lost in thought, and West had to put a hand on his knee to stop him from fidgeting too much.

West was falling in love with Daniel more and more every day, and he had dreaded this audition that had come way too fast.  
The past few weeks they had been rehearsing, so much so that West thought Daniel might even be over-prepared.  
Dancing had always made West happy, but sometimes he worried that he'd gone as far as dancing would take him, that there was nothing new that dancing had in store for him.  
But dancing with Daniel showed him that there were still new things to experience, and he wanted to share them all with him.

He glanced at Daniel, who took a deep breath to try and keep his nerves at bay.  
When Daniel's name was called, West gave him an encouraging smile, trying not to let on how much it hurt to watch him leave.  
A thought had crossed West's mind a few times before. He had always dismissed it, thinking it was too selfish.  
He had never brought it up to Daniel, not wanting to disturb his focus, or take attention away from him. This was supposed to be about Daniel, after all.  
As West was sitting there by himself, waiting for Daniel to come out again, he tried to imagine what it would be like to be without him for a few months, but he couldn't, didn't want to.  
And so he made a decision that was selfish, and hoped that Daniel would forgive him for not talking to him about it first.

When Daniel left the audition room, West jumped to his feet.  
“How did it go?” he asked before Daniel had even closed the door behind him.  
A cautious smile formed on Daniel's face. “It went well, I think.” He shrugged lightly. “They said I'll hear from them but they probably say that to everyone.”  
“I'm really proud of you.”  
“You know what?” Daniel replied. “..Me too.”  
West smiled at him.  
“You wanna grab something to eat?” Daniel asked.  
West bit his bottomg lip. “Actually, I still have to wait for my turn,” he said. Daniel gave him a confused look, so he added, “While you were in there I signed up too.”  
“What?” Daniel asked in surprise.  
West couldn't tell how Daniel felt about it and began to explain, “I know it's a long shot, but I've been practicing with you all this time and..” He paused, trying to form coherent sentences. “I want you to go no matter what, because you deserve it, but it's such a long time and if there's a way for me to be with you I want to at least try.”  
For a moment, Daniel just stared at him, mouth slightly agape, before he pulled him into a hug.  
West closed his arms around Daniel without hesitation, relieved that Daniel felt the same.

“I love you,” Daniel whispered.  
West tightened his grip, almost dizzy with happiness. “I love you too.”  
He usually already didn't care if other people were around when he showed affection to Daniel, or that they might hear what they were saying, but when he pulled back a little to look at Daniel, he had completely forgotten that there weren't alone. This moment belonged only to them.

With their fingers intertwined they waited for West's turn.

\---

It took a week for the letters to get to them. During that week, they both kept busy with the preparations for Internationals.  
West did it to distract himself. He was not a pessimist by any means, which was why he did not want to think about the possibility of Daniel leaving without him.  
Daniel, too, didn't seem too worried about the outcome of the audition. In fact, he seemed happier than ever, and West loved seeing him so motivated for Internationals. He had a tendency to go a bit overboard with the tough love for the dancers, but they were used to it, even thrived because of it, and they knew that he only had their best interest at heart. And they were ready to fight for the title with everything they had.  
Sometimes Daniel did get a little quiet, but whenever it happened, he would turn to West and give him a smile, and a kiss, and he was happy again.

They didn't talk much about the audition, and when Emily came out of her office in studio A with two envelopes in her hand, they were almost surprised, even though they knew they were guaranteed a response, whether they had gotten the job or not.  
“Look what came in the mail today!” she said, waving the envelopes around excitedly.  
Before they took the letters, Daniel paused. “What if you got in and I didn't?”  
West tilted his head. Of all the ways this could go, he thought this one was the least likely. Impossible even. He opened his mouth the respond but Daniel cut him off as though he had read his mind.  
“I know, I know, but what if?”  
West gave him a soft smile. “The whole point of me auditioning was to be with you. If you're not going then I'm not going either.”  
He thought that had been clear from the start, but maybe the nerves were getting to Daniel now, moments before they'd know.  
Whatever it was that made Daniel need reassurance, at least he seemed content with West's response. “Okay.”

“That's so sweet,” Emily said with a sappy smile. She held out the envelopes to them. Her face didn't change, but her voice took on an urgent tone. “Come on, I can't take the suspense any longer.”  
They each took a letter, hesitated, exchanged looks, then tore them open.  
Emily was watching them both eagerly for a few quiet moments as they read the letters.  
West was the first to look up. “I'm a villager!” he said, and a grin formed on his face. He really didn't care what role he got. He would even have considered becoming a stage hand if that was what it took. All that mattered was that he was going with Daniel.  
“Congratulations!” Emily said, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it lightly.  
They both turned to Daniel, who finally lowered the piece of paper in his hand. He looked at them incredulously, and in a quiet voice he said, “Albrecht.”  
There was a moment of silence in which West and Emily processed the information, then West lunged forward and threw his arms around Daniel.  
Daniel stumbled backwards a bit before steading himself by holding on to West.  
As they embraced each other, West could feel the tenstion leave Daniel's body.  
West didn't say, “I knew it,” even though he did.  
Daniel leaned his cheek against the side of West's head for a moment before pulling away. His eyes jumped to Emily, who was watching the patiently with a warm smile on her face.  
“All thanks to you,” Daniel said and let go of West to give Emily a hug as well.  
“Yeah,” she replied with a smirk. 

When they separated, Daniel looked at the letter again as though he still couldn't believe it.  
West hooked an arm around his waist and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I can't wait.”  
“First you have to win Internationals,” Emily said. It was a tall order and her tone was teasing but they knew that she was at least partially serious.  
Daniel smiled. “No problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading :) hmu on tumblr @tj-smitten
> 
> the title was inspired by this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKqGeAwGw1M&ab_channel=MusicbyBlanks  
> chapter titles were inspired by this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pm_KoguqPM&ab_channel=CloudKid


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